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Sports News Brief
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COLLEGES
PETRINO DETAILED AFFAIR TO BOSS BEFORE FIRING: FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Former Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino told his boss that his affair with a woman he later hired as an assistant began with a kiss last fall and ended sometime in February when the two decided to simply be friends, according to documents released Thursday.

The details are in 25 pages of handwritten notes kept by Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long during meetings with Petrino on April 10 and also with Jessica Dorrell, the football department employee the coach hired without disclosing their relationship. The notes were released as part of a Freedom of Information Act request made by The Associated Press.

At one point last October, Petrino and Dorrell were sitting in a car, eating lunch and talking and "she said are you going to kiss me," according to Long's notes of his April 10 conversation with Petrino. He then wrote: "Kissed on lunch outing."

t's unclear when the relationship turned sexual, but Long's notes seem to indicate the two decided they should be only friends sometime in early February after exchanging more than 4,300 text messages and nearly 300 phone calls, according to his business cellphone records. Dorrell was hired in late March, just a few days before she and Petrino were in a motorcycle accident that exposed their relationship and led to his ouster.

SUMMITT: IT HAS BEEN A 'GREAT RIDE' AT TENNESSEE: KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Pat Summitt was relaxed, smiling and even cracking jokes — looking and sounding totally at peace knowing she will never coach her beloved Tennessee Lady Vols again.

The Hall of Fame coach who just eight months ago revealed she had been diagnosed with early-onset dementia, Alzheimer's type, has turned the program over to longtime assistant Holly Warlick.

"It was really a great ride for me," Summitt said Thursday, speaking on the Tennessee basketball court named after her before a crowd of about 200 fans, faculty and friends.

"I just felt like it was time for me to step down knowing that Holly was going to be in great hands," Summitt said. "She's a great coach and you know I'm going to continue to support her. You know It's never a good time, but you have to find the time that you think is the right time and that is now."

She will become Tennessee's new "head coach emeritus" with the school paying her the $1 million bonus she had been due once she coached her 40th season.

 

 

GOLF
MATT EVERY SHOOTS COURSE-RECORD 63 IN TEXAS OPEN: SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Matt Every arrived at the Texas Open having sworn off instructors, proudly cutting practices short and cringing at the sight of other players endlessly tweaking their swings.

His reward was a course record at a PGA Tour stop.

Outshining the few big PGA Tour names in a weakened field, Every made nine birdies in a bogey-free 9-under 63 for a three-stroke lead over Hunter Haas after the first round Thursday.

It was a career best on a notoriously unforgiving TPC San Antonio course that opened in 2010, but is partly blamed for why the tournament doesn't attract more star power.

OLYMPICS
GRINER WON'T PLAY FOR US TEAM AT LONDON OLYMPICS: WACO, Texas (AP) — Baylor standout Brittney Griner will not play for the U.S. women's basketball team at the London Olympics this summer.

The 6-foot-8 Griner, who was considered a candidate for the 12th and final roster spot on the national team, citied an unspecified family illness and her summer school schedule when she said Thursday she would not be able to play.

In a statement released by her school, Griner said she had informed USA women's team director Carol Callan of her decision.

Griner played on the 2011 European Tour with USA Basketball, and averaged 12.8 points and 7.3 rebounds a game.

The last college players to compete in the Olympics for the U.S. were Vicky Bullett (Maryland) and Bridgette Gordon (Tennessee) in 1988.

FOOTBALL

NFL MOVES RAIDERS-DOLPHINS KICKOFF: MIAMI (AP) — The NFL has moved the kickoff for Miami's game in Week 2 against the Oakland Raiders from 4:15 p.m. EDT to 1 p.m. because of the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah.

The Raiders-Dolphins game is the only one being moved on Sept. 16, with the early start giving Jewish fans a chance to be home before the new year's holiday begins at sundown.

MISTRIAL DECLARED IN MURDER TRIAL OF EX-RAIDER: LANCASTER, Calif. (AP) — A mistrial has been declared in the murder case against a former Raiders football player.

Aa Lancaster jury deadlocked Wednesday in the trial of 44-year-old Anthony Wayne Smith.

He'll be retried along with a co-defendant. A third man was convicted of second-degree murder last week. Smith was a defensive end with the Oakland and later Los Angeles Raiders from 1991 to 1998.

Prosecutors contend that he lured Maurilio Ponce to an Antelope Valley desert highway in 2008 where the mechanic was beaten, stomped and shot over a business deal gone wrong.

Smith's attorney argued there was no physical evidence linking his client to the crime and that Smith had no reason to kill Ponce.

SWIMMING

EVANS FINISHES 2ND IN 800 FREE AT CALIFORNIA MEET: MISSION VIEJO  (AP) — Janet Evans has finished second in her heat of the 800-meter freestyle as part of the 40-year-old swimmer's comeback for the London Olympics.

She was timed in 8 minutes, 46.89 seconds Thursday at the Fran Crippen Memorial Swim Meet of Champions. Evans lowered her Olympic trials cut time of 8:49.05 with just more than two months until the trials that will decide the U.S. team.

Evans finished second to 16-year-old Brooke Lorentzen, who swam a personal-best time of 8:45.69. Olympian Chloe Sutton posted a time of 8:26.68 to win the first of eight heats at the pool in Mission Viejo.

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